Gun



Jan. 1l, 1944. 1 C. TRQTTER y 2,339,227

GUN l y Filed July 8, 1941 2 sheets-Sheet 1 a i lf 5i- Q Q l* fl x i w. N d la 'g' Y Q. N Q ,QQ Q g Y x Q w Q Q y N INVENTOR 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Jan.,11, 1944. l.1. c. momes:

v @UN Filed `Julgy f8, T1941 l @Uma INVENTOR Patented Jan. 11, 1944 vUNH ortica GUN Application .uly 8, 1941, Serial No. 401,425

10 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic guns of the rapid re type, and more particularly to recoil shock absorbing and counter recoil mechanisms for use in conjunction with the mounting of such guns upon airplanes or the like. One of the objects of the invention is to provide, in conjunction with a rapid fire gun, an improved form of recoil shock absorbing mechanism. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved form of rapid re gun of heavy caliber type for mounting upon airplanes or the like. Another object is to provide an improved arrangement for mounting automatic guns upon airplane wings or other airfoil type structures. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the specification hereinafter..

In the drawings: Y

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of a rapid-nre gun of the aerial cannon type, showing a recoil shock absorbing mechanism and gun mount structure .of the invention in association therewith, in section;

Fig. 2 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially along line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along line III-III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken along line V-V of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 showing another form of recoil damping mechanism of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section taken along line VII- Vil of Fig. 6; andv Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section taken along line VIII-VIH of Fig. 6.

The drawings illustrate the invention inconjunction with a gun having a barrel lli which is shown'mounted upon an airplane wing, indicated at l2, so as to project through the nose piece of the leading edge portion of the wing for firing in the direction of airplane flight, It will be understood that the barrel lli comprises a portion of an aerial cannon cr machine gun of the type wherein the gun barrel is arranged to .reciprocate longitudinally in connection with recoil and counter recoil actions thereof. A bracket Hl is provided to encompass the gun barrel Iii in the region oi' the wing leading edge, and the bracket it is formed with diverging leg portions i6 for rigid mounting upon the wing spar I3, or any other suitable structural portion of the wing member. Thus, the gun barrel lil is rigidly supported upon the wing structure by means of a bracket dis- -gun barrel i0 ahead of the bracket I4 so as to seat at its inner end portion 22 firmly against the bracket I4. A ilange portion 23 of the bracket lll extends over the housing 2l) to maintain the'latter against radial displacement from gun barrel concentric position. A gun recoil absorbing spring 24 is slidably disposed upon the barrel il! n so as to bear at one of its ends against the seat .under the action of recoil forces of the gun.

Thus, upon iiring of the gun, the barrel IU is arranged to reciprocate longitudinally relative to the bracket I4; the recoil forces of the gun ring operation causing the collar 26 to move against the action of the spring 24 to compress the latter, whereupon the spring absorbsvthe recoil forces and is charged for subsequent expansion to return the gun barrel I0 to battery position.

The housing 20 is provided with an outwardly extending annular flange portion 3U to which is fixed by means of connection' devices 32 a generally cylindrical shellor sleeve 3i karranged to extend forwardly and concentricallyof the housing 2t, and in spaced relationtherefrom to. provide. a fluid receiving case.- A sleeve .or-force member 35 of tubular form -isscrewthreaded into attachment with the collar 2G, at 3l, so as to be carried by the collar and to extendrearwardly into telescopic relation with respect to the housing 2l! and the shell 34.; the shell 34 and the sleeve vSii being so dimensioned. thatthe sleeve 35 slidably fits against the inner surface of the shell 3c. A vraised annular portion 38 extending from the sleeve 36 into. sliding connection` with the shell 34 tends to reduce the frictional resistance torelative sliding movement therebetween. At its inner end the sleeve 36 carries an annular piston lili which extends between the shell 34 and the housing 2B and is fitted with piston rings 42 at its inner and outer faces to provide va substantially oil-tight sealing between the shell and the housing.

The piston lll is provided with a plurality of spaced fluid passageways i4 (Figs. 1, 2, 3) and a series of alternately disposed spaced passageways S extending longitudinally therethrough. An annular valve plate is arranged to lie against the inner faceV of the piston lli), and is carried thereon by means of a series of spaced screws 52 carrying compression springs E3 which resiliently bear against the valve ring 50 so as to normally maintain it in seated relation against the piston 4D. The valve ring 50 is apertured as indicated at 54 (Figs. 2 and 4) so as to register only with the passageways 46 through the piston lill. A gland 60 is slidably mounted between the housing and the sleeve Sii, and is provided with sealing rings B2 so as to be substantially fluid-tight yet longitudinally slidable between the sleeve and housing members. The gland (it is backed up by means of a coil spring E4 which is arranged to seat at its outer end against a flanged ring 66 which is fixed to the housing 20.

Thus, it will be seen that the elements of the mechanism provide an annular fluid chamber 'Hl between the piston 4U and the bracket end of the unit, and a fluidchamber 'l2 between the piston 40 and the gland 60, which upon assembly of the mechanism are filled with oil or other suitable fluid substance. Upon ring of a cartridge in the gun the barrel I0 is driven rearwardly under the impact of the recoil force so as to slide within the bracket M, thus compressing the recoil absorbing spring 24. The piston 4B is simultaneously driven rearwardly toward the bracket I4, and thus some of the oil within the chamber lil is driven through the registering orifices Ell-l of the valve and piston members --ML and into the chamber 12. However, inasmuch as the cross sectional area of the chamber 'l2 is substantially less than the cross sectional area of the chamber '10, the uid displaced from the chamber 10 exerts a forwardly directed pressure force against the gland 60, so as to extend the longitudinal extent of the chamber '12. Under this oil pressure force the gland 6U moves forwardly against the action of the spring G4, and it will be understood that the recoil shock absorbing action o-f the main spring 24 will be augmented and modied by the shock absorbing and movement damping action of the fluid within the chambers Hl-12, as controlled by the dimensioning and arrangement of the fluid passage orifices and the action of the spring 64.

Upon exhaustion of the recoil force of the gun barrel I0 the springs 24 and 64 act to return the gun barrel to battery position. The movement of the collar 25 in return direction draws the piston 46 to return to the position of Fig. 1, and to accommodate this movement of the. piston some of the huid within the chamber l2 moves through the permanently open passageways 5.6- 54 into the chamber le. However, upon movement of the piston @il to the left as viewed in Fig. 1, the valve plate lill is adapted to move away from its normal seated position against the action of the springs 53. whereby the passageways Ml are uncovered and fluid is vpermitted to pass therethrough also to supplement the displacement of nuid through the passageways 46 of the piston. It will be understood that the return movement of iluid from the chamber 'i2 to the chamber 'le will be further assisted and accommodated by return movement of the gland 6G to the position of Fig. 1, in response to the action of the spring E4, and that the return movement of the gun barrel in connection with the counter-recoil stroke thereof will be limited by abutting action of the piston 4@ and gland (i9.

Thus, a structurally simple combination spring and fluid recoil force absorbing and counter recoil and recoil movement damping mechanism is provided, which is adapted to absorb the recoil forces of the gun and to return the barrel to battery position between each shot and to damp the movement of the gun barrel, in an improved manner. It will be appreciated that a particular feature and advantage of the invention resides in the fact that the recoil control and counter recoil movement mechanism of the invention is of such form as to nest compactly about the gun barrel unit without substantially increasing the bulk of the gun unit; and that the formation and arrangement of the operative elements of the mechanism are such that the device Y is located entirely outside of the supporting wing contour and is thereby accessible in an improved manner for repair and servicing operations. It will also be understood that the recoil absorbing and damping mechanism may be readily disassembled for servicing operations thereon by simply detaching the cuff 28, whereupon all of the remaining elements of the mechanism will be freed t'o slide along the gun barrel into completely disassembled positions.

Figs. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate details of another form of the invention wherein the piston valve mechanism comprises a series of valve units illustrated in section by Fig. '7. ln this instance the piston il@ is bored and tapped as indicated at 8i) for screwthreaded reception of a series of spaced open ended valve spools SE which are centrally bored to register with passageways S4 through the piston. Each spool 82 carries a valve disc which is of lesser diameter' than the bore of the spool and arranged to seat against the inner end of the bored portion of the corresponding spool and to be resiliently pressed thereagainst by means of a compression spring Q6. Thus, during recoil strokes of the piston the valves 35 remain seated, but during counter recoil strokes of the piston the valves 35 open to permit movement of fluid from the chamber 12 around the valves S5 and through the spools S2 into the chamber lil. Another series of spools 9i! of permanently open form (Figs. 6 and 8) are similarly mounted upon the piston ill in registry with fluid passageways 2 through the piston, whereby provision is made for displacement oi fluid from the chamber 'lll into the chamber 72 during recoil movement of the gun barrel l@ relative to the bracket l. The spools l2-9S provide convenient mounting means for fixing end portions of compression coil springs Q5 within the fluid chamber 'ill so that the springs @5 extend in parallel relation longitudinally of the chamber 10 about the gun barrel ID so as to bear at their opposite ends against the shoulder S5 (Figs. 1 and 7) which is provided at-the inner end of the shell 34 where it connects to the housing 2S. Thus, a plurality of auxiliary springs S5 are arranged to extend between the piston and the fixed end of Vthe shell-housing structure to assist the main spring 24 in elastically resisting recoil movements of the gun barrel I0 and in providing counter recoil movements thereof.

It will be understood that the operative parts of the mechanism of the invention may be so relatively proportioned and arranged that upon assembly of the device the spring 64 will be slightly pre-loaded, whereby the spring Si! will be adapted to elongate during service of the device as may be required to compensate for leakage of uid from the piston-cylinder unit. It will also be understood that the screws 32 at the inner end of the shell formation may provide convenient means for lling and refilling the fluid chamber portions of the mechanism, as required. By removing two or more of the screws 32 a supply of uid may be readily introduced through the opening provided by removal of one of the screws while the airV previously contained within the unit will be permitted to escape through the other openings thus provided. Although only a limited number ofl forms of the invention have been shown and described in detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited but that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An automatic gun including a supporting base and a barrel arranged to be longitudinally reciprocable relative to said base, a coil spring slidably mounted about said barrel and bearing at one of its ends against said base, abutment means extending from said barrel and bearing against said spring at the other of its ends whereby said spring elastically resists recoil movements of said barrel and provides counter-recoil vmovements thereof, a pair of spaced concentric sleeves carried by a fluid-sealed end wall portion of said base to extend concentrioally about said coil spring, a third sleeve carried by said barrel to extend telescopically between said rst mentioned sleeves, gland means slidably mounted between the innermost of said sleeves and said third sleeve to provide a movable fluid-sealed wall spaced from said base end wall portion to provide a fluid chamber therebetween, piston means carried by said third sleeve intermediately of said uid chamber and arranged in fluid-sealing relation with respect to the outermost of said sleeves and said innermost sleeve to divide said fluid chamber into two portions of dierent cross sectional areas, said piston means having constricted uid passageways therethrough communicating with opposite of said fluid chamber portions, valve means associated with said fluid passageways for regulating flow of iiuid through said piston, and an elastically deformable mem- -ber carried by said innermost sleeve and bearing against said gland means to position the latter longitudinally relative to said innermost sleeve and adapted to be biased in response to fluid pressures acting against said gland to permit said :"1

gland to move relative to said innermost sleeve to modify the longitudinal extent of said fluid Y chamber.

2. An automatic gun including a supporting base and a barrel arranged to be longitudinally reciprocable relative to said base, a pair of spaced concentric sleeves carried by a fluid-sealed end wall portion of said base to extend concentrically about said gun barrel, a third sleeve carried by said barrel to extend telescopically between said first mentioned sleeves, gland means slidably mounted between the innermost of said sleeves and said third sleeve to provide a movable fluidsealed wall spaced from said base end wall portion to provide a fluid chamber therebetween, pistonmeans carried by said third sleeve intermediately of said fluid chamber and arranged in fluid-sealing relation with respect to the outermost of said sleeves and said innermost sleeve to divide said fluid chamber into two portions of different cross sectional areas, said piston means having constricted fluid passageways therethrough communicating with opposite of said fluid chamber portions, valve means associated with said fluid passageways for regulating flow of fluid through said piston, and an elastically deformable member carried by said innermost sleeve and bearing against said gland means to position the latter longitudinally relative to said innermost sleeve and adapted to be biased in response to fluid pressures acting against said gland to permit said gland to move relative to said innermost sleeve to modify the longitudinal extent of said fluid chamber.

3. An automatic gun including a supporting base and a barrel arranged to be longitudinally reciprocable relative to said base, a coil spring slidably mounted about said barrel and bearing at one of its ends against said base, abutment means extending from said barrel and bearing against said spring at the other of its ends whereby said spring elastically resists recoil movements of said barrel and provides counter-recoil movements thereof, a pair of spaced concentric sleeves carried by a fluid-sealed end wall portion of said base to extend concentrically about said coil spring, a third sleeve carried by said barrel to extend telescopically between said first mentioned sleeves, gland means slidably mounted between the innermost of said sleeves and said third sleeve to provide a movable fluid-sealed wall spaced from said base end wall portion to provide a fiuid chamber therebetween, piston means carried by said third sleeve intermediatelybf said fluid chamber and arranged in fluid-sealing relation with respect to the outermost of said sleeves and said innermost sleeve to divide said uid chamber into two portions of different cross sectional areas, said piston means having con.- stricted fluid passageways therethrough communicating with opposite of said fluid chamber portions, valve means carried by said piston in registry with only some of said fluid passageways and adapted to adjust the rate of flow of fluid through said piston to dierent regulated rates when flowing therethrough in opposite directions, and means for resiliently positioning said gland relative to the longitudinal extent of said innermost sleeve and adapted to be biased longitudinally thereof in response to changing fluid pressures thereon.

4. A rapid re gun including a supporting base and a gun barrel reciproeab-le relative thereto, a coil spring mounted upon the said barrel and arranged te bear at one end against said base, an abutment carried by said barrel and adapted to bear against said spring at its opposite end, sleeve means carried by said lbase to provide an annular fluid chamber, a force member carried by sai-d barrel tc extend into said chamber and adapted to move axially relative to said chamber during recoil and counter-recoil movements oi' barrel, gland means slidably mounted in said chamber to said force member to fluid seal the entrance thereof into said chamber, piston means carried by said force member interiorly of said fluid chamber and having fluid passageways therethrough, check valve means carried by said piston for controlling passage cf fluid through said passageways such manner as to more readily permit iiow of fluid in one direction than in the opposite direction so as to provide Substantiai resistance to recoil movements of said gun barrel and less resistance to counter-recoil movements thereof.

5. A rapidI lire gun including. a supporting base and a'gun barrel reciprocable relative thereto, a coil spring mounted upon the said barrel and arranged to bear at one end against said base, an abutment carried by said barrel and adapted to bear against said spring at its opposite end, sleeve means carried by said base to provide an annular fluid chamber, a force member carried by said barrel to extend into said chamber and adapted to move axially relative to said chamber during recoil and counter-recoil movements of said barrel, gland means slidably mounted in said chamber to engage said force member to fluid sealthe entrance thereof into said chamber, piston means carried by said force member interiorly of said fluid chamber and havfluld passageways therethrough, check valve means carried by said piston for controlling pas-- sage of iiuid through said passageway/s in such manner to more readily permit flow ol' Aiuid in one direction than in the opposite directif l so as to provide substantial resistance to recoil movements of said gun barrel and less resistance to counter-recoil movements thereof, and resilient means to back up said gland means adapted to be biased in response to the action of fluid pressure forces against said gland means to permit the latter to move relative to i'orce member.

(i. A rapid fire gun including a supporting base and a gun barrel reciprocable relative thereto, sleeve means carried by said base to provide an annular fluid chamber, a force member carried by said barrel to extend into said chamber and adapted to move axially relative to said charnber during recoil and counter-recoil moveri ,nts

said barrel, gland means slidably moan Y said chamber to engage said force hierbei" to lluid seal the entrance thereof into said cham-- ber, piston means carried by said force member interiorly of said fluid chamber and having fluid passageways therethrough, check valve means carried by said piston for controlling passage of uid through said passageways in such manner as to more readily permit flow of fluid in one direction than in the opposite direction so as to provide substantial resistance to recoil movements of said gun barrel and less resistance to counter-recoil movements thereof, and resilient support means backing up said gland and adapted to be biased in response to the action of liuid pressure forces against said gland means to permit the latter to move relative to said force member.

7. A rapid lire gun including a supporting base and a gun barrel reciprocable relative thereto, a coil spring mounted upon the said barrel and arranged to bear at one end against said base, an abutment carried by said barrel and adapted to bear against said spring at its opposite end, sleeve means carried by said base to provide an annular uid chamber, aV force member carried by said barrel to extend into said chamber and adapted to move axially relative to said case during recoil and counter-recoil movements of said barrel, gland means slidably mounted in said chamber to engage said force member to fluid seal the entrance thereof into said chamber, piston means carried by said force member interiorly of said uid chamber and having a plurality -f fluid passagevvays therethrough, a hollow spool mounted upon said piston in open communication with each of said fluid passageways, check valve devices slidably disposed Within some of Lil said spools, spring devices carried by said last mentioned spools to bear resilientlyv against said valve devices, said spool and check valve devices being arranged to provide substantial resistance to fluid flow through said passages in conjunction with recoil movements of said gun barreland less resistance to fluid flow in conjunction with counter-recoil movements thereof, and coil springs disposed Within said chamber and encircling at like end portions corresponding of said spool means and bearing at their other end portions against said base.

8. A rapid re gun including a supporting base and a gun barrel reciprocable relative thereto, a coil spring mounted upon the said barrel and arranged to bear at one end against said base, an abutment carried by said barrel and adapted to bear against, said spring at its opposite end, sleeve means carried by said base to provide an annular fluid chamber, a force member carried by said barrel to extend into said chamber and adapted to move axially relative to said chamber during recoil and counter-recoil movements of said barrel, gland means slidably mounted upon said sleeve to engage said force member to fluid seal the entrance thereof into said chamber, piston means carried by said force member, a valve plate movably mounted upon said piston and adapted to abut thereagainst to close some of said fluid passageways and to move therefrom so as to uncover said passageways, spring means carried by said piston and resiliently bearing against said valve plate so as to bias the latter toward the passageway covering position, said piston and valve plate devices being so arranged as to provide a check valve device adapted to impose substantial resistance against fluid flow through said piston in conjunction With recoil movements of said gun barrel and lesser resistance to duid ow therethrough in conjunction with counter-recoil movements thereof.

9. A rapid re gun including a supporting base and a gun barrel reciprocable relative thereto, sleeve means carried by said base to provide an annular fluid chamber, a force member carried by said barrel to extend into said case and adapted to move axially relative to said chamber during recoil and counter-recoil movements of said barrel, gland means slidably mounted in said chamber to engage said force member to iluid seal the entrance thereof into said chamber, piston means carried by said force member interiorly of said fluid chamber and havingia plurality of fluid passageways therethrough, a hollovv spool mounted upon said piston in open communication with each of said fluid passageways, check valve devices slidably disposed Within some of said spools, spring devices carried by said lastmentioned spools to bear resiliently against said valve devices, said spool and check valve devices being arranged to provide substantial resistance to fluid flow through said passages in conjunction with recoil movements of said gun barrel and less resistance to fluid ovv in conjunction with counter-recoil movements thereof, and coil springs disposed within said chamber and encircling at like end portions corresponding of said spool means and bearing at their other end portions against said base.

10. A rapid fire gun including a supporting base and a gun barrel reciprocable relative thereto, sleeve means carried by said base to provide an annular fluid chamber, a force member carried by said barrel to extend into said chamber and adapted to move axially relative to said chamber during recoil and counter-recoil movements of said barrel, gland means slidably mounted in said chamber to engage said force member to uid seal the entrance thereof into said chamber, piston means carried by said force member, a valve plate movably mounted upon said piston and adapted to abut thereagainst to close some of said fluid passageways and to move therefrom so as to uncover said passageways, spring means carried by said piston and resiliently bea-ring against said valve plate so as to bias the latter toward the passageway covering position, said piston and valve plate devices being so arranged as to provide a check valve device adapted to impose substantial resistance against fluid flow through said piston in conjunction With recoil movements of said gun barrel and lesser resistance to iuid ow therethrough in conjunction with counter-recoil movements thereof.

JOHN C. TROTTER.

CERTIFICATE CE CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,559,227 January I1, 19ML.

JOHN C. TRC TTER.

It-is hereby certified thaterror appearsn the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring cerrectonas follows: Page second co 11mm, line h6, .Claim 9, for Case read chamber-'1; and that the said -I Letters Patent should` be read with this Correction therein that the same' .may Conform 'to the recpr'd of the (zg/se in the Patent Qfffce.-

signeeand sealed this luth Cay o March, A. D. 19M.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissionerlof Patents.`

GERTIFicATE or CORRECTION.. Patent No. 2,559,227. January il, 19m.

` JOHN c. TROTTER.

Itis hereby certified that/error appears in the printed specification ofthe above numbered patent requr ond column, .lie 146, lclaim 9, for case Letters Patent should be read. with this may conform vto the recpr'd of the eg/se i signedand sealed this 11pm day /of March, A. D. 19ML,

correction therein that the same n the PatentA Qifiice.

Leslie Frazer' (Seal) Y' vcztixxg Commissionerof Patents.l

ing correction'as follows: Page li, secread chamber; and-that the said -I 

